greasing and lining baking pans

If you’ve ever taken your perfectly baked cake out of the oven, only to find that half of it remains in the pan when you try to remove it, then this post is for you. Properly preparing your pans before adding the batter will save you much heartache on the other side. The following technique guarantees a cake that releases cleanly every time.

You’ll need:
cooking spray (such as Pam)
flour (I keep flour in a metal shaker just for this purpose)
parchment paper cut to fit the bottom of the pan (click here to see how to make an easy parchment circle)

Now you’re ready!

First, spray the bottom and sides of the pan with your cooking spray.

Place the parchment paper in the bottom of the pan; spray with the cooking spray.

Liberally coat the sides and bottom of the pan with flour – tap out the excess.

You can do this early in the day if you’re not baking right away – just keep the pans in the fridge until you’re ready to bake.

If I’m making a chocolate cake – especially one that I’m not frosting – I like to use cocoa powder instead of flour to eliminate the white coating on the outside of the cake.